Cathy Bryant's Blog: CatBryant.com ~ Journey Blog, page 117

BOOK REVIEW: "A Case For Love" by Kaye Dacus (& Book Giveaway!)

In case you haven't figured it out, I love the Brides of Bonneterre series by Kaye Dacus. I reviewed Stand-In Groom in February 2009, and Menu For Romance in July 2009. The thing I love about this series is the close-knit family ties to the fictional Louisiana town of Bonneterre. The location really becomes like a character itself, which I also enjoyed.



I've had my eye on Forbes Guidry, the eldest sibling in the Guidry family since Book One. A control-freak lawyer, he takes his family respon...

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Sibella Giorello

Please help me welcome author Sibella Giorello (LOVE your name, Sibella--it's beautiful!). Here's her bio:



Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska, the fourth-generation of her family to fall madly in love with the Last Frontier. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts with a degree in geology, she rode a motorcycle across the country, ending in Seattle. She earned a journalism degree from the University of Washington and went right back on the road -- this time driving to Rich...

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: K. M. Weiland (& Book Giveaway!)

I'm pleased to welcome author K. M. Weiland to WordVessel today. Here's her bio:



K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She is the author of the historical western A Man Called Outlaw and the recently released medieval epic Behold the Dawn. She blogs at Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors and AuthorCulture.



Tell us about your latest book.



Behold the Dawn is a medieval epic, set against the backdrop of the Third Crusa...

GUEST BLOGGER: Author Ann Shorey (& Book Giveaway!)

I'm delighted to welcome author Ann Shorey back to WordVessel. You can read our fall interview here.



Ann Shorey has been writing for nearly twenty years. She's been published in the Adams Media Cup of Comfort series, and had one of her stories included in Chicken Soup for the Grandma's Soul. Ann has also written articles for various local and regional publications. After completing a narrative family history in 1998, she realized she had uncovered a treasure trove of inspiration, and turned...

THE BEST OF WORD-VESSEL: How To Build A Story - Part 1

The guest blogger I had scheduled for today had to back out at the last minute, so I decided in the interest of time to bring back a previous post that some of you might find helpful.



* * * * *

During the pre-writing for my second novel, Texas Paths, I wanted to make sure I had all the story elements in place before NaNoWriMo began, so I spent a LOT of time studying story structure.



Sitting in on Susan May Warren's and Rachel Hauck's ACFW workshop really started my brain a-whirring, and I h...

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Prayer

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." ~Ephesians 6:18-20 (NIV)



As we've studied the armor of God, we've dissected each piece of equipment and what it...

Writer's Special Post

Hi friends! I just heard about this and wanted to pass the news along to those of you who might live in the Dallas area. Because of low registration, American Christian Writers (ACW) is discounting their regular fee from $250 to $35 a day ($70 total). Here's the info copied from Gail Gaymer Martin's blog:

Discount for ACW Dallas, TX Conference - Spread the Word I will be on staff at the Dallas, TX American Christian Writers Conference March 12 and 13 and since the registration is very low -...

Winners, Links & Blog Award

LINKS:

From recent posts, a dear friend gathered  some of the difficulties I've been going through and sent me this link to an article entitled "Prepare To Be Misunderstood." Wow! What a powerful word. If you're feeling discouraged and misunderstood, and struggling over how to respond to criticism and doubt, you need to read this article. Hope it encourages you as much as it did me!



The corresponding Bible Study for Texas Roads is finally available here. I apologize for how long it took me t...

BOOK REVIEW: "Sons of Thunder" by Susan May Warren (& Book Giveaway!)

As you all know, I'm a HUGE Susan May Warren fan. I've already devoured one of her books this year--the second book in the PJ Sugar series--Double Trouble. You can read my review here.



I attacked the opportunity to read her novel, Sons of Thunder, and though I knew the book would be different than most of the SMW books I've read, I admit to at first being a little disappointed that it didn't contain that witty humor that I love in Susan's romantic comedies.



But within a few pages, it didn't...

BOOK REVIEW: "Abigail" by Jill Eileen Smith (& Book Giveaway!)

I've always been fascinated by the story of King David and his wives, but none fascinate me so much as Abigail. When the opportunity arose for me to review Jill Eileen Smith's latest book in The Wives of King David series, I was more than happy to do so.



The story starts out with Abigail betrothed to a man to pay off her father's debt. Little does she realize that marriage to Nabal would be so rough. She suffers many abuses as his wife, her turmoil mirrored by the conflict in Israel. King Sa...